How to develop personalized customization and modification for new energy vehicles?
In the era of fuel powered vehicles, customization and modification basically remain at the mechanical level, such as replacing shock absorbers and brake discs, adding performance modifications such as turbines, as well as special painting, large surround, changing seats, adding luggage racks, and other cosmetic modifications. However, new energy vehicles are a new species, with market penetration reaching around 30%, and are still showing a further upward trend. What are the differences between customization and modification of new energy vehicles and traditional fuel vehicles? What are the development trends and potential?
In the round table forum with the theme of "Developing Personalized Customization and Modification of New Energy Vehicles", under the auspices of Liu Xiaoyong, President of Automotive Observation Magazine, Yang Ying, President of CoVenture Automotive, Yang Zhen, Head of Jidu Automotive User Development, Hu Enping, Vice President of United New Energy Marketing Company, and Liu Shulin, Founder and CEO of Transboundary Automotive, held heated discussions on the above topics.
Yang Ying: New energy vehicles have higher modifiability
In Yang Ying's view, new energy vehicles are significantly different from traditional fuel vehicles in terms of the extensibility of the scene, the plasticity of intelligence, and the convenience of modification. In particular, new energy vehicles have unique advantages in the areas of interior personalization, UI/UX personalization, and other modifications that consumers just need. At the same time, new energy vehicles have higher power modifiability than fuel vehicles.
After years of development in the automotive industry, the greatest advantages it has formed are industrialization, mass production, standardization, and consistency. If we want to pursue customization and personalization, how should we handle the contradictions that arise? Can thousands of people and cars really be realized? In response to Liu Xiaoyong's sharp question, Yang Ying replied, "In order to match more and more customized requirements for breaking the circle, we have made comprehensive changes from the supply chain to the production process. Co-creation is the best way to achieve breaking the circle."
Yang Ying said that in the product design phase, Hechuang Automobile has reserved enough interfaces for modification to meet the different needs of consumers and partners. In order to improve the efficiency of co branding and co creation, the plan of Hechuang Automobile is to cooperate with modified vehicle companies, which help Hechuang define products. Hechuang can also provide technical support, process support, and industrial support for modified vehicle companies. At the same time, Hechuang has also reached a cooperation with Lei She to jointly define the product needs of the e-sports crowd. The new works of both parties will be officially launched at the Shanghai Auto Show.
Yang Zhen: Both hardware and software are necessary for retrofitting
Yang Zhen said that in the European and American markets, the proportion of car modifications is high, which to some extent represents the industry trend. For consumers, cars are not only a means of transportation, but also an important label of personal identity. A significant number of users hope to express their identity and personality through special versions. Based on this, Jidu has actively entered the customization and modification market, and jointly launched the limited version of the ROBO-01 lunar exploration and the limited version of the three body vehicles in China.
Yang Zhen believes that although automotive industry is a large-scale industry, with the support of intelligence, the future automotive industry will have three waves of trends: scale, intelligence, and personalization. Looking ahead, retrofitting will no longer be limited to appearance and styling, but will involve both hardware and software. In the era of smart cars, every car is personalized. Based on personalized data, the software system installed on the vehicle can provide personalized solutions and service experiences for the owner, and the software can provide a large amount of operating space for personalization and customization.
"On the one hand, we hope that the software can have a standardized base as much as possible to improve efficiency; on the other hand, we hope that it can bring more personalized innovation opportunities in scenarios," Yang Zhen said.
Hu Enping: The smaller the crowd, the more mainstream
Hu Enping said that the development of the automotive industry is moving from large-scale to personalized, and this trend is also reversing the changes in production and manufacturing methods and supply methods. In the past, scale was the only way to go, but in the future, it may be "the smaller the crowd, the more mainstream". In the process of moving from scale to personalization, modification is the best bridge.
The initial stage of personalization should be innovation, but when personalization develops to a certain extent and everyone chooses a different modification method than others, will the effect of pursuing innovation decrease? In the face of this problem, Hu Enping stated that there must be a contradiction between the needs and possibilities of thousands of people and vehicles, but precisely because of the existence of the contradiction, higher requirements for software capabilities have been put forward. Once "software defined cars" become a reality, thousands of people and thousands of cars will no longer be a problem.
Hu Enping introduced that Nezha Motors has realized the personalized development trend in the automotive market. In the future, Nezha will invest more energy in the organizational form establishment and resource matching of the modification business, and will also launch more personalized and customized products to meet the needs of different consumers.
Liu Shulin: Customization and modification will become the mainstream of the industry
Liu Shulin believes that scale is a prerequisite for the development of the automotive customization and modification industry. In the era of new energy vehicles, the Chinese automotive market has shortened the subjective performance gap with the developed country automotive market, forming the need to establish a personalized market.
In his view, there is a dual logic of industrialization and brand operation behind the development of the customization and modification market. At the level of industrialization, the biggest obstacle to customization and modification is molds, which are the mother of industry and the most fundamental core of all manufacturing industries. Personalized customization requires secondary development on a large-scale platform, breaking large needs into small ones. From the perspective of brand operation, engine manufacturers and refitted vehicle companies should exercise different functions. Engine manufacturers should adhere to brand pursuit, brand tone, and brand direction, rather than pursue unlimited personalization.
What is the future growth trend of the automotive customization and modification market? According to Liu Shulin, the global modification market has grown to 300 billion euros. As product costs continue to decline, personalized modification will definitely become a new point of scale and economic growth. In the future, customization, personalization, and modification will no longer be a subculture, but will gradually develop into the mainstream of the industry.
"For consumers, customization and modification are important signs of consumption upgrading, and for manufacturers, they are important manifestations of creating differentiated competitiveness, reflecting the two-way journey between consumers and producers." At the end of the session, the host Liu Xiaoyong concluded, "Why is the world keen on customization and modification? I believe that customization is the awakening of human self consciousness, while modification is the dissatisfaction with reality and the awakening of innovation consciousness. Whether it is the awakening of self consciousness or the awakening of innovation consciousness, it is necessary for the modification industry, the automotive industry, and the entire society."